I am proud to announce that tonight the Council’s Committee on Finance passed the Retail Plastic Bag Reduction Act that I introduced last year. This initiative is a thoughtful and measured approach to reducing the number of carryout plastic bags distributed and our dependence on them in our communities, and the adverse effects they have on our environment.
Over the past several months I have visited every corner of the city, met with various groups including the Racial and Environmental Justice Committee, Zero Waste Providence, and other community stakeholders to ensure that we get this right. This updated legislation requires an implementation plan within 60 days of passage, along with quarterly progress reports from the City‘s director of the Office of Sustainability, no fee at point of purchase for consumers, and will involve a myriad of community partners to help with implementation, outreach and education.
The ordinance will be sent to the full Council for vote and passage.
On Wednesday, March 13, 2019 a group of seventh graders from Providence’s Community Preparatory School visited City Hall to view the Black History Month exhibit titled “South Side: Where Providence Begins.” A curated tour was led by City Council Deputy Majority Leader Mary Kay Harris and City Archivist Caleb Horton, who spoke with students about the South Side’s long history of diversity.
Community Preparatory School teachers Cauley Greene and Yajaida DeJesùs were happy to see the students engaged in the exhibit. Greene acknowledged that this year’s exhibit featured “recent and recognizable” history that the students found relatable. Greene was pleased that the seventh graders at Community Preparatory School were exposed to both modern and local history so they could see the progress that has been made in recent years.
Seventh graders William and Nate enjoyed the exhibit’s focus on the South Side as the place where Providence began, and appreciated seeing the history behind the neighborhood where they grew up. After the tour students were able to walk around and look more closely at the exhibits. Edwin, another Community Preparatory School student was fascinated by the wide array of immigrant groups who have called the South Side home.
Deputy Majority Leader Harris engaged with the students asking them if they recognized various people and places featured in the exhibit such as famous baseball player, Davey Lopes. As the Chairwoman of the Black History Committee, Harris recognizes the importance of keeping young people involved in learning about Providence’s history as a cultural melting pot.
“South Side: Where Providence Begins” will remain open until April 12, 2019. Curated tours will be every Thursday starting at noon on the third floor of City Hall. Tours will also be available upon request by calling the Providence City Council Office at (401) 521-7477.
Hope and Change for Haiti held their second annual International Women Day Celebration at the Rhode Island State House on Friday. The event was emceed by Pearl Farquharson. United States Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (Democrat, Rhode Island) attended, as did Rhode Island State Treasurer Seth Magaziner.
Hope and Change for Haiti advocates for women and immigrant rights and to promote cultural awareness. The group was founded by Aniece Germain and Dr Norly Germain.
Caroline Jackson Morgan received a citation award from Senator Whitehouse for her volunteer political and social justice advocacy work.
Below is all the video from the event.
“Women’s rights must be a guarantee for all,” said Aniece Germain. “This struggle, to end all forms of discrimination against women, is real.”
“We still have some fights ahead of us in Washington,” said Senator Whitehouse. “We are still fighting for equal pay for equal work. We are pushing back hard against the efforts to degrade women’s health.”
“Part of achieving balance, not just as individuals but as activists and for the movement, is to know that we’re not just one individual or one organization,” said Dr Hilary Levey Friedman, President of the Rhode Island Chapter of the National Organization for Women (RI NOW). “Together we can find a balance and represent everybody.”
“This is a time that many of us have found troubling and disturbing at a national level,” said Treasurer Magaziner. It is “a time when we feel that all of the progress that has been made towards equality and justice over the centuries and the decades is being threatened… Here in Rhode ISland we have push back against that trend…”
Singer/songwriter Alison Rose performed he song, Hope.
“Although we have made significant strides in improving healthcare throughout the country,” said Providence City Councilor Nirva LaFortune (Ward 3). “Black and immigrant women are still at risk for poor health and economic outcomes.”
“We in the House are about to count 27 women among our 75 members,” said Representative Teresa Tanzi (Democrat, District 34, Narragansett, South Kingstown), to applause. “And there’s 16 [women] in the 38 member Senate. Both chambers are at a record high for female representation. That’s something we should all be proud of.”
Quatia Osorio CCHW, CLC is a certified perinatal community health worker, certified lactation counselor and community birth and postpartum doula. She is studying to become a midwife.
“Challenges in maternal health are challenges for all of us,” said Osario. “We need to ask ourselves as a community: Do you know someone who has recently given birth? Have you checked on them?”
“It was a really big moment when the House passed the Reproductive Privacy Act,” said Jordan Hevenor, co-director of The Womxn Project, referring to the passage of a bill the night before that codified the protections of Roe v Wade into Rhode Island State Law. “For us, this issue is not a political issue it is a personal one. It is about each of us having the right and ability to make our own decisions. It is about honoring the agency of women. It is about women being able to decide how to build our families and our relationships.”
Tiara Mack is an educator and activist and a boardmember of Women’s Health and Education Fund (WHEF).
“Women [are] broadly defined in this new age to include so many into the fold – Black, Brown, Trans, gender nonconforming and a host of other identities – unify us into a shared fight for power. Women have come to challenge and confront issues with ferocious grace and determination through countless obstacles and systems meant to ensure our failure.”
Dr Norly Germain, Executive Director of Hope and Change for Haiti provided the closing words.
Reposted with permission by Steve Ahlquist of UpriseRI.
City Council Deputy Majority Leader Mary Kay Harris (Ward 11) and the majority female-led Council, unanimously voted to recognize March 8th as International Women’s Day at a Council meeting last month. The Council will be hosting an event tomorrow, Friday, March 8, beginning at 6:00 PM on the third floor of City Hall in celebration of International Women’s Day, whos 2019 theme is #BalanceforBetter.
This is Harris’ second annual event to honor Women in Service, and it will begin with brief welcome remarks from Senator Jack Reed, Mayor Jorge O. Elorza, and City Council President Sabina Matos (Ward 15).
Deputy Majority Leader Mary Kay Harris said, “I’m thrilled to be partnering with SistaFireRI once again to bring the community together to celebrate International Women’s Day. It is our goal to bring both women and men together for a discussion on how we can better build a gender-balanced world. I hope that by sharing stories of our achievements and our failures, as women and men, we can all learn from our unique experiences.”
“I’m honored to serve with my colleagues who understand how important International Women’s Day is,” stated City Council President Sabina Matos. “Regardless of gender, it is important for each of us to understand how gender-balance can make stronger bonds and stronger communities.”
Councilwoman Rachel Miller, who helped plan this year’s event stated, “International Women’s Day is an opportunity to honor and celebrate all who identify as women in our community, but it’s also a call to action. We recognize that even in the conversation about gender equity, some communities face bigger barriers than others. Women of color and trans women face social and economic violence- like the attack on a trans couple in my neighborhood earlier this year. We can advocate for gender-balance by demanding a world that respects the integrity, safety, and health of all women in our community.”
The City Council’s International Women’s Day Celebration will take place on the third floor of City Hall, and will incorporate group discussions, and direct dialogue on how we can create a better balance not just in the workplace, but in all aspects of our society. It has been planned in conjunction with community groups including SistaFireRI, Alliance of Rhode Island Southeast Asians for Education (ARISE), and the Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and is free and open to the public.
About International Women’s Day:
International Women’s Day (March 8) is a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The day also marks a call to action for accelerating gender parity.
No one government, NGO, charity, corporation, academic institution, women’s network or media hub is solely responsible for International Women’s Day. Many organizations declare an annual IWD theme that supports their specific agenda or cause, and some of these are adopted more widely with relevance than others. International Women’s Day is a collective day of global celebration and a call for gender parity.
International Women’s Day is all about unity, celebration, reflection, advocacy, and action – whatever that looks like globally at a local level. But one thing is for sure, International Women’s Day has been occurring for well over a century – and continues to grow from strength to strength. Learn about the values that guide IWD’s ethos.
City Council President Pro Tempore Correia and Councilman Taylor
Introduce Ordinance Calling for Emergency Snow Parking Ban Guidelines
City Council President Pro Tempore Michael Correia, Ward Six introduced an ordinance at tonight’s Council Meeting that calls for implementing an emergency parking ban if the expected snowfall is four inches or more.
“The current system is not efficient and is failing to ensure the safety of our constituents during and after snowstorms,” stated Council President Pro Tempore Michael Correia. “These bans are not being properly enforced resulting in hundreds of vehicles interrupting the plow trucks from clearing the streets. The Director of Public Works should call parking bans based on the severe weather report and not at the discretion of the Mayor’s Office. It is time to step up and deal with these issues that have been putting our constituents at risk.”
This ordinance would allow the City to determine a course of action based on the predictions from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The Director of Public Works would act in accordance with the severe weather report to implement a parking ban that would begin two hours before expected snowfall and end four hours after the snowfall has ceased.
“Currently, we have no set guidelines for when a parking ban is to be implemented,” stated City Councilman James Taylor, Ward 8. “Residents should not be left wondering if their street will be plowed curb to curb. When snow accumulation is expected to be heavy, cars need to be off the streets so that the Department of Public Works can properly carry out their duty.”
The ordinance has been sent to the Committee on Ordinances for further review and comment.
